Valentino Rossi’s 400th Grand Prix race start

It’s an amazing feat for the 40-year-old Italian who has won 115 races out of 400.

Rossi marked a milestone in his 23 years of riding in the motorcycle Grand Prix.

Known as “The Doctor”

, a nickname he was given early on in his career, Rossi has won the championship nine times, taking out his first title at the age of 18 in the 125cc category.

First Italian to be crowned a Moto3 world champion

Moto3 rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta was presented with his first match point of the season at the Phillip Island race.

When Dalla Porta’s fiercest rival Aron Canet crashed on just lap three of the Australian GP, it was evident that Dalla Porta would probably win the Moto3 World Championship, as long as he didn’t finish in 13th place or lower.

Dalla Porta crossed the finish line first in Australia, to be crowned Moto3 World Champion.

The 22-year-old is the first Italian to win the Moto3 world title category and no Italian has won the lightweight division of the motorcycle Grand Prix since 2004, when a young Andrea Dovizioso did it.

An Aprilia leads a MotoGP race

Aprilia is a familiar name in the world of motorcycle Grand Prix racing but the technical changes that saw the bikes move from 500 to 990cc in the early 2000s of the MotoGP category saw Aprilia depart the heavyweight category in 2004.

Their hiatus would last until 2015, when they would return to MotoGP to compete with the Japanese giants Yamaha and Honda once again.

The only other Italian manufacturers in the MotoGP category are Ducati, who successfully debuted in 2004.

Italian rider Andrea Iannone briefly led the Australian GP, as his garage team watched on in jubilee.

He is one of only eight riders to lead a MotoGP race in 2019, amongst a pool of 22 riders.

This also placed Aprilia on the list as one of five (out of 11) factory bikes to lead a MotoGP race in 2019.

It was a sterling effort and a sign that the Aprilia bike is moving in the right direction for the 2020 MotoGP campaign.

Rookie Bagnaia achieves his best MotoGP finish

It is Francesco Bagnaia’s rookie year in MotoGP and the Italian achieved his best MotoGP race finish so far at the Australian GP.

The 22-year-old Pramac Ducati rider finished fourth.

Prior to this he has never finished in the top six.

Bagnaia moved over from the Moto2 category, where he took out the Moto2 Championship last year.